Book picks similar to
The Cub by Vasily Mahanenko


litrpg
fantasy
rpg
progression-fantasy

Homebrew


Xavier P. Hunter - 2018
     Gary Burns just wanted to create the greatest RPG campaign of his gaming career. But a freak magical accident sucks him into the very world he created—as himself. Surrounded by heroes who look and sound like his friends, Gary is forced to play out the story he wrote. Worthless in a fight, Gary must prove himself valuable even if it means feeding the team insider knowledge. Because he needs keep his friends close—and himself alive—until he can solve the puzzle he never designed: how to get everyone back home.

The Incarnator


Roman Prokofiev - 2020
    The eruptions of hostile energy from behind the Edge distorted the laws of the physical world, creating new life forms which now threaten to take over the planet. The last remaining vestiges of humankind, too desperate for their own survival, have nothing to offer against their advance.So it’s time to activate Incarnation: the last instruction issued by Project Stellar. In a situation when there’re not enough living beings to protect planet Earth, the dead fighters will have to rejoin the defenders’ ranks.

Age of Ancients


Aaron Oster - 2021
    Born with a crippling lung illness, he has never been as strong as his father or brother, both of whom have disappeared after attempting to challenge the Trials of Ancients. In the wake of the Tyrant King’s war, his village has come under the control of the Purus, a vicious gang of magically enhanced cutthroats and murderers. The Trials offer the promise of power to any who can clear them, but Dabu has been forbidden from entering.After a violent encounter leaves his family in danger, Dabu faces a difficult decision — either leave the village to challenge the Trials or stay and risk starvation. The Trials are monstrously difficult, filled with dangerous beasts, deadly obstacles, and tribes of challengers who control the areas within. But if he can make it out alive, Dabu will gain the power he needs to finally drive the Purus from his home.This book contains GameLit elements, such as stat sheets, a form of leveling, and experience gain.

Dravincia


Blake Severson - 2019
     A Goddess is stirring up trouble, and Arthur happens to be the one caught up in the action. After an unfortunate encounter, Arthur is given a second chance in a new world. To his surprise, this new world has mechanics that remind him of Role-Playing Games from Earth. He has been given a simple directive from the Goddess, to help the people of the world and spread her name. He quickly discovers this will not be an easy task. The world has been overrun with bandits, who work for the lords of the land and cause all the denizens to live in abject ruin. Can Arthur tame Dravincia and push back against these forces or is he destined to fail spectacularly and have to hope for another try?

Drafted: Proxy War


Adam Sampson - 2019
     Peter is one of thousands who get abducted every year, as payment to the aliens. The aliens have given humans portal travel, healing serums, and other advanced alien technology. The quality of life has improved, but everything has a price. Along with a group of strangers Peter is trained for war by going up against literal monsters. The troll-like aliens won’t give them modern weapons. Humans have to battle monsters with swords and shields, and that is just to get out of boot camp. His only chance to survive is to use the alien device he is given. The device can increase his strength and speed to superhuman levels. It can even grant him powers that seem like magic. Complicating things is that the device's interface is written in an ever-changing alien language. He will have to figure out its secrets if he wants to keep himself and his team alive. A Science Fantasy novel with LitRPG elements.

Winterborn


Stuart Grosse - 2019
    Many of them have rules and laws that are utterly alien to the world that we know. Most never leave the world they were born into, never even know or suspect that other worlds even exist. Their souls simply go through the cycle of reincarnation again and again, always forgetting their past lives, and living as they please. But some few are given the gift of Transfering after death, to live their next life in a different world, with memories of their past lives to enrich the world they go to with new concepts and new ideas, and bringing back those same from the world they visited when it is time for their next cycle in their old world. A young woman suffers a tragic fate, and is granted the ability to Transfer. She is reincarnated into a new world, full of monsters and magic, things that would be mere myths and legends to her in her old life. This time, she promises, will be different. She doesn't have to be weak here. She doesn't have to be a victim. She can be strong, and no one will ever control her again!

Quantum Shift


Kyle Johnson - 2020
    Any humans who survive this process will receive more information on these changes. Expected Survival Rate: 1 – 5% Phase Shift begins in 3…2…1...Commence Phase Shift!Troias Drakos awakens to find that the world he knew is gone, and a new reality has risen to take its place. Most of Earth's life was killed in a single instant, and those that survived have been granted powers and abilities that seem almost magical. Unfortunately, this world is filled with terrors and monsters that are equally powerful...or far more so. Only by uniting and learning to use their new abilities will humanity survive.Troias has been given a unique set of powers, and if he is to have any chance to survive, he must learn to master these and become a true Spirit Warrior. Will even his great abilities be enough to survive the Quantum Shift?

Wagga


Alex Kozlowski - 2021
    The next, an unknown energy force changes the very nature of life itself, from the smallest organism to the top of the food chain. The earth’s surviving inhabitants, its environment, and the very laws of physics have all undergone fundamental transformations.Many of those changes aren’t pretty. Plenty of them are deadly.Luckily for Earth, this has happened to other species before, and everyone receives an interface that survivors of similar events have used to navigate through an alien landscape.Adrian’s going to need every advantage he can get. He’s stranded in the middle of nowhere, there are days, maybe weeks of travel between him and his family, and in a world full of monsters and mayhem, survival means beating the learning curve…

Press Start


Thomas Whipple - 2019
    When he found his old console from when he was a kid, he dusts it off and sets it up. He played his old games, but he had finished them all long ago. So, what does he do? He takes a trip to the local game shop to browse the used titles. Browsing the old cartridges, he finds one that he never heard of: Dark Ages: The Death of Magic. When a store attendant tells him that game is rumored to never have been beaten, he had to have it. Occupying all his free time he finally beats the unbeatable game. What happens next, he never would have guessed. He is introduced to the System. Something that has always existed but not everyone knew about. Join Dean as he is introduced to the seedy underbelly of a world where the myths of magic from the past read like history. Joined by his childhood friend, he must survive in a world of magic hidden from everyone. A world that has remained secret through the blood of those who have discovered it. And to top it all off, he discovers that his childhood friend—his best friend—isn’t even human.

Meet the Alexes: A Dungeon Core Adventure


Burt Wrenlaw - 2021
    

Wolfpack 1


Cassius Lange - 2021
    It wasn't just my arm and shoulder that was broken, but also my mind. I couldn't remember anything—my name, who or where I was, or what had happened to me.Could that get worse? Of course. The battle wasn’t over, and it appeared that our enemy wasn't just content with victory. No. They sought to wipe us out. But why? If I lived long enough, perhaps I would find out.Not everything was bleak, however. I had friends at my side—ones who challenged our cowardly leaders and fought to give me a chance. We could fight together and escape. But in an ether-ravaged, post-apocalyptic world cast back into the dark ages, where feudal lords once again fight for control over land and resources, that may be easier said than done.Join Takemi in this wuxia style progression fantasy, as he journeys through a post-apocalyptic landscape. Ether ruined the old world, but it is building a new one, where mental constructs called mind palaces grant cultivators game-like perks and unlock almost superhuman abilities.<>

That Time I Turned My Farm Into A Dungeon


S.A. Archer - 2021
    

The RPG Apocalypse


Jeremy Chambless - 2021
    Well, maybe it is now.Every day is the same for Joseph. Study; go to class; repeat. He can't help wondering what it's all for? Who is it all for? Life is dull and there's no prospect of that changing. Is some excitement too much to ask for?"Get to safety if you wish to survive!"Joseph's prayers are answered, but not in a way he could ever have expected. Goblins, ghouls, kobolds and a myriad of monsters and mythical creatures have spawned all over the college campus and beyond. The carnage is shocking.If he's going to survive the RPG apocalypse, Joseph is going to have to figure out the new rules fast. And is it wrong to feel so alive, when so many other people have died?

The Last Warrior of Unigaea


Harmon Cooper - 2017
     But with the people of the Rune Lands encroaching on the southern cities of Unigaea, and something brewing in the sky that could prove fatal to the entire online world, Oric must make the choice between personal vengeance and becoming the hero he is destined to be. Joining him on his epic journey are a giant Tagvornin wolf, a mute Solar Mage, and a cunning illusionist named Sam Raid. Do not miss this the start of this powerful LitRPG fantasy trilogy by the author of Fantasy Online and The Feedback Loop series!

Zee Locked-In (OVR World Online Book 1)


Justin Monroe - 2020